Trip over- HongKong/TheNetherlands - LEI

Well i have finally started the trip i have been waiting and dreaming for. The first long stretch was from Melbourne to Hong Kong. I nabbed a window seat so i spent most of the time peering out my grubby window into the barren wilderness of Australia's backyard. It is an amazing view: Lifeless, red, ridged desert that holds beauty without even trying. At one point, there was a lonely car cruising along, in what seemed the middle of nowhere, with no seen destination. It felt strange that i was looking down from 1000's of miles above, at this dot that was a car, without the people inside knowing. Hours went by and still no sign of human civilisation from down below. Made me realise how massive and uninhabitated Australia really is.

There were so many good photo oppurtunities in the short time we had in Hong Kong, but while i would be taking a photo, my family (being the impatient lot they are) would keep walking on without me realising. So not wanting to get lost in the hustle and bustle i would dart off after them, resulting in no photos or badly taken ones. I loved the heat and the scumminess of Hong Kong. And all the big neon signs that i didn't understand, the fatty food stalls, manicured parks (believe it or not), tacky markets, the city lights.. ahhh i could go on. I was reluctant to leave, yet it didn't matter because i was so excited for Europe, and still am for whats to come. Below are a few photos of my fellow travellers in a lift, a street and HK by night:

On the flight over to Amsterdam i was unlucky and got one of the middle seats in the middle row. The Worst! My sweet talk and eyelash fluttering to the male flight attendant got me no change in seating arragement, but my brother managed to get a window seat... . At the airport we were greeted by a mass of family, which was nice. Straightaway we did the known Dutch thing and found a coffee shop... for a coffee. After we made our way to our rental car, i mean rental truck (hardly exaggerating). Apparently it was the only rental vechile left in the whole of Holland that could fit 6 of us in plus our luggage, which i find hard to believe. My uncle drove us to Mum's hometown, Zierkzee, which is BEAUTIFUL. Driving on the wrong side of the road is the strangest feeling! Although i was dead tired i forced myself to look at the scenery, which was, IS, of course awesome.

We arrived at Zierkzee and still had the whole day till night. I don't like sleeping during the day but i did anyway and woke up about 4 in the afternoon. I then went for a bike ride to freshen up and came back to a hearty, delicious, vege soup, just like my Opa back in Tasmania makes.

There is sooooooo much to tell but right now this can do, for i don't want to be behind this screen for much longer. It is just surreal to be here after months of counting down. I love the bikes (all the bikes!!), the pretty little towns, the original houses/buldings, yummy food, terraces, canals, the lush big trees and just the coziness that comes natural to the people here.

Well Tasmania, you might not see me for awhile =).

nederlands - MIEK

after an eventful over 24 hour trip we finnnally arrived in Amsterdam, minus two (the only dutch speakers mind you) which were left in a hospital in hongkong.. I now understand why people dont look forward to such long trips on planes. after waking up 1088436392x from a straightbacked, u shaped pillow type sleep i gave up on sleeping and decided to open the shutter blind. everyone else on the whole plane was more focused on the little tv screen in front of them, which i couldnt believe because when i opened the shutter there was a whole range of mountains (just a little above the himalayas) with snow covering them! they were beeeeeeeeautiful .. reminded me of toblerone :) mmm. anyway then the next 6 hours was all pretty dry and deserty.. i think it was all the stan countries. eastern russia looked beautiful and onwards, all green paddocks and forests and little towns.



stepped out of the airport, and it was hot! YAY. summertime makes everyone smile. got to our little house and sat outside under the huge beautiful old trees and had a coffee. i was thinking it must be about 5:30 because it was only just getting dark, but was 10:30!! so went to bed, felt unbelievably good to stretch out our legs and get rid of our kankles haha.. thought i would sleep forever but about 5am i was wide awake. woke up thomson and we had brekky, (managing to smoke the entire house out with the toaster eek) and then we rode into uitgeest twice. it is so pretty and apparently so is the rest of Holland. full of trees and nice houses. found our first windmill and took a photo :) . everrrrrrrrryone rides bicycles in holland. without helmets. haha its unbelievably relaxed compared to Australia. we probably caused a bit of chaos, wobbling all over the road nearly crashing into other riders and not indicating. ( i think that might be because we could hardly touch the ground.. dutchies have loooooong legs.)

Came home and sat under the trees, looking out over the fields and canals, sunning my legs and reading a book. :)



had a bit of a get together with all mums old friends etc, but of course mum wasnt there, so we got sore cheeks from smiling and trying to understand dutch.. everyone is really nice , loud and entertaining, i feel right at home because they remind me of oma . talk about yummmmmy food :) chocolate sprinkles (chocoladhagel) on toast in the morning ...



tom and nomz rode to the beach yesterday. hehe i felt a bit bad but i was so into my book i couldnt bear the thought of riding for half hour without reading it.. so sat in the grass again, with the noise of lawnmowers in the background and relaxed.

and thennn last night we were driven to Putten, which is even more beautiful, (nearly impossible) and met another few hundred people :) ..nearly.



All in alll we are getting thoroughly spoilt and i dont know why we dont live here haha.

laur

I don’t think I’ll complain about grading carrots and peeling onions 10 hours a day…Nop I don’t want to complain, in fact how often is that we are provided with 10 hours a day for pure thinking time? let alone paid thinking time. Im not talking about strenuous thoughts, it’s the sub-conscious mind that I am preoccupied with, the one that allows me to drift in and out of lovely and dreadful thoughts with a sometimes strange and sometimes funny chain that links them. The freedom of thought! The state of the mind can really be such a lovely thing. So time, you and I have never really seen eye to eye and its got me wondering whether you mean anything at all, as I listen to temper trap and ponder your existence or my existence within you I cant help but blame you for many of my life’s inadequacies, number one, I always seem to blame you for my lost loves because I know they are far from lost you just never seem to allow them, or it may very well be the ambitious and determined souls that I encounter rather than time, or maybe once again I am just not surrendering to blaming myself. But how can I be so cruel when it is those peculiar, curious, wonderful moments of complete harmony that you provide, that make my insides churn with simplicity and happiness. Can I blame you for overpowering love at one instance or should I just appreciate those spontaneous moments of beauty that leave me in awe. As it is these wonderful times that I long to freeze with a click of a button or a touch of a brush but you are too beautiful for that. So as I surround myself with the luxuries of my pink bed socks, cuddles from mum in her dressing gown, mollies funny snoring noises, my paints, hot coffees in the bubble bath, walks of 13 houses to be in the company of my bestest strangest friend, and as I look in my fully stocked wardrobe and pantry, I stop and wonder about the next chapter…Living from a backpack with no where in particular to be…yes I am ready! Thats it Thats all I dream of an epic adventure Laura

Lei

Thought i might add to Miek's post with some snaps of our scrumptious night!

Good company + Delicious pancakes = smiles all round ...


Toppings, toppings and more toppings, including golden syrup and bacon for the adventurous, ahhh yum! I think we needed a bigger table. We had to leave some toppings out because there wasn't any room left!


I was taking photos of good lookin' pancakes and thought Catherine's looked tasty. Consisted of fresh passion fruit, kiwi and raspberry, but i don't think she was finished with the decorating...


I don't know how we were able to eat so much with all our chatting! It was an awesome night and i left feeling full, inspired and REALLY excited for Europe!!

A dinner of pancakes for ten

Just finished an evening filled with deliciousness :) full of gossip and pancakes with raspberry couli, berries, cream, ice cream, mango, passionfruit, kiwi fruit, hot fudge sauce and the dutch classic bacon and golden syrup! 
Two counnnhes /couches, i like it better as counches sounds way comfier, and four chairs around an old desk in a cosy corner of my studio. Funky/soulful/housey tunes floated around with the conversation of ten different girls. 

Laura, an arty floaty soul, who accepts anything and adds funkyness to the circle. 
Aleida, always laughing with her dazzling grin, grounds the dreamy party but can tend to float off herself. 
Catherine, speaks her thoughts direct from her mind causing many scandulous laughs and open eyed shocks, we need her there with her sparkling eyes. 
Renee, quiet with all us louder ones but simply gorgeous. 
Me... I dunno haha loud? 
Lisanne the learned one inspiring everyones dreams and saving the day cooking platefuls of pancakes with twins hanging off her hip. 
Erica, loud and bubbley, always steadily happy and queen of lamish funny jokes : eri: man it stinks like a piecost in here.. Someone: a what? Eri: a piecost... What? Someone: whats a piecost? Eri: 3 bucks mate, want sauce with that? Everyone ohhhhh hahahaha. 
Tarley: blonde curley haired sexiness, full of stories and funkyness. 
Naomee: more blonde haired sexiness, quietly saving my day, adding many more laughs to the night. 
Kirsty: huh? Fav word along with many questions regarding why.. Loudly happy and cheerful therefore a pleasure to be around.
So there u have it, with a few glasses of red, white and pink wine and dreams of europe, and all meeting there somewhere to have christmas pudding amidst all our wandering ways.